1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus having a nozzle and ejecting a liquid from the nozzle.
2. Description of Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2005-288770 includes a recording head, a cap, and an ink sucking device. A nozzle is open in a surface of a nozzle plate that constitutes the recording head, and the cap covers the surface of the nozzle plate. The ink sucking device sucks ink in the recording head. More specifically, while the surface of the nozzle plate is covered by the cap, the ink sucking device is operated, whereby the ink whose viscosity has increased and others inside the recording head are discharged through the nozzle. The inkjet recording apparatus further includes a sub tank storing the ink to be supplied to the recording head. A gas-permeable film is disposed in the sub tank and vertically divides an internal space of the sub tank into two smaller spaces, namely, an upper space and a lower space. The lower space functions as an ink chamber (liquid supply passage) for storing the ink, and the upper space functions as a gas chamber (gas discharge passage) to which a gas or air contained in the ink chamber is discharged. The gas chamber is connected with a gas or air suction pump via a valve operated by a controller. The gas or air in the gas and ink chambers is discharged to the external by the gas suction pump operated while the valve is held open so as to suck the gas or air from the gas chamber. By thus discharging the ink with the increased viscosity and the gas or air to the external, the inkjet recording apparatus is free from undesirable variation in the ink ejection performance, or the characteristics in ejection of ink droplets from the nozzle, which may be otherwise caused by increase in the ink viscosity and the gas or air present in the recording head.
However, the inkjet recording apparatus has a disadvantage that when the ink is thus discharged from the nozzle, the nozzle may be clogged with the ink with the increased viscosity.